All businesses love getting 5-star reviews, but in the funeral service industry it’s bittersweet. It’s likely the hardest type of review a person will ever write and also the most important.
Being able to read reviews from past clients is extremely helpful to people because:
- Funeral services aren’t cheap even when you opt for direct cremation or direct burial.
- It helps people know what to consider and how to compare funeral homes.
- Enables people to find a funeral home that shares their values.
- Often people don’t have much time to choose a funeral home.
Every experience is important to hear about when the services are as personal as funeral services. So much goes into the decision in such a short amount of time that peer reviews serve an essential purpose. You yourself may have read reviews to figure out who to trust with your loved one’s disposition.
“No one really wants to write a review for cremation, especially when they are dealing with the loss and passing of their mom/best friend. With that said though, I think it’s important for people to consider their options even during time of loss and to choose companies that line up with their ideals and values.”
Cremation.Green client Mina M, Pflugerville, TX
It’s not easy to know what exactly to say when you’re reviewing a funeral home. If you would like to leave a review for a funeral home the suggestions below might make the process a little easier.
It’s Okay to Focus on Feelings
Funeral services have a clear emotional component. It’s perfectly fine to discuss how you felt during the funeral process or how a particular person made you feel. People want and need compassionate care after losing a loved one so it’s good to hear how reviewers felt about the services.
And people shouldn’t have to sacrifice compassionate care for convenience. Even if a funeral home is corresponding primarily through text, emails and phone calls they should make you feel comfortable and cared for. Sharing how interactions both large and small made you feel is helpful for other people who are now searching for funeral services.
“Marlaena and Green Cremation Texas made a terrible life situation easy to manage. The representative that took our loved one from the hospital to their facilities was so gentle and loving. The ability to conduct the bulk of the process online but always have her available to answer questions via text or on the phone was so comforting. Unfortunately in my life I’ve had to use a number of funeral and cremation services. This by far was the best, easiest, and affordable as well. Green Cremation exceeded our family’s expectations and honored our loved one.”
Cremation.Green client L.R., TX
Think About What You Would Have Liked to Know When Researching Funeral Homes
If there’s anything that you think would have been beneficial to know when you were on the other side searching for funeral home services that’s great to include in a review. Most people have never arranged a funeral of any kind before. There’s a huge learning curve, and it’s very easy to overlook important factors simply because you don’t know to look for them. Any review that fills the information gap is highly beneficial to others.
Explain Why You Selected Your Funeral Home
What made you choose the funeral home you did? Do you feel like it was a good decision? Simply answering those two questions would be a great review for a funeral home.
The answers explain what factors you took into consideration and if the funeral home lived up to your expectations. If someone is considering the same factors it can help them find the funeral home that will provide services as expected.
Make the Key Points Early and Clearly
As mentioned above, time is often of the essence when selecting a funeral home. A person may only have an hour or two to research funeral service options nearby and make a selection.
Keeping that in mind can really help the readers. One thing you can do is to put the key points right at the beginning of the review. You could even put the key points in a bullet list and then expand on each one in more detail further into the review.
The goal is to put the most important information upfront in a way that’s easily digestible for readers that are skimming through reviews as quickly as they can.
“Nobody wants cause to write a review of a business like this and yet when you are faced with medical staff telling you that you need to decide within the hour what to do with the deceased body of a loved one, that’s the moment you need to hope someone caring has done so – so here I am. . . I hope I don’t have cause to use their services again any time soon but they would be my choice in that unfortunate event.”
Cremation.Green client Heather A., Austin, TX
Be 100% Honest
We believe transparency is critical in death care at all times. There’s a significant financial investment and emotional investment involved for the people reading the reviews. They deserve to know that truth about a funeral home whether it’s good, bad or downright ugly. Provide information on the pros and the cons.
More on Value, Less on Rates
Here’s the thing, funeral service rates can easily change at any time, and they are customized to each unique circumstance. Also, what’s expensive to one person may seem fairly average to another.
Rather than focusing on the cost of funeral services, talk about the value of them. Value is more about worth. More precisely, it’s a gauge of whether the funeral services were worth the amount paid. To most people, value is much more important than the cost once it’s all said and done.
We also encourage you to read our reviews on Google and Yelp if you would like to see examples of funeral home reviews. We’re also here for you 24/7 by phone, email or text if you need assistance arranging funeral services or post-cremation.
